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Getting spooked at school
Posted: 10.26.2012 at 11:55 AM Updated: 10.27.2012 at 10:00 PM
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Hundreds of zombies, ages 11-15, packed into the Emerson Community Center Saturday night.
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QUINCY, ILL. -- Hundreds of zombies took over the Emerson Community Center in Quincy Saturday night.

The Quincy Park District designed a Zombie Prom and Haunted School specifically for pre-teens and teenagers in the Quincy area.

Staff expected somewhere around 75 kids, but within the first 30 minutes, more than 200 had packed onto the dance floor.

The DJ blasted some haunted tunes while zombie movies played in the background. A makeup artist was also on hand to provide the blood and guts.

The teen dance included a costume contest. Two winners were crowned King and Queen Zombie for the night.

"We wanted to do something fun, we all love Halloween," Jessica Cate, recreation supervisor at the Quincy Park District, said. "And it's something good for the teens to do, safe, definitely scary and a good time.

This is the first year the Park District held a Zombie Prom and Haunted School for 11- to 15-year-olds.

"Lots of kids trick-or-treat when they're younger but when they get to like the 11-year-old age, you know they don't want to trick-or-treat anymore, they're not 16, 17 so they don't have a car and aren't mobile to go out and do different things," Mike Bruns of the Quincy Park District said. "So we just wanted to find an event that fit that age category and we've got this Emerson Center that was an old Emerson School and we just thought 'Hey this building feels haunted during the daytime so let's turn it into a haunted school.'"

Three dollars at the door got you into the haunted school. A haunted house was also included in the night's activities.

"In the haunted school area we do have a love for the "Walking Dead" show on AMC so we are definitely going serious with our zombie," Cate said.

So parents could rest assure knowing from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. their kids would be spooked and safe.

"They'll be here the whole time, inside doing safe things," Bruns said. "It gives them something to do where they're just not wondering out on the streets on a Saturday night and giving kids something worth wild for them to do is very important."

And, what's more safe than knowing your kid is at a prom with flesh eating zombies?

KHQA's Kristen Aguirre and Brooke Hasch contributed to this report.

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